Apparatus for resizing, decapping, and recapping cartridge-shells.



*110.742,768. l PATE-MED 00127, 1903. E. L. WBTZIG.

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No. 742.768.- PATENTBD OCT. 27, l903 L. WBTZIG.

E. APPARATUS POR RESIZING, DECAPPING, AND RECAPPING CARTRIDGE SHBLLS. No IODEL. Y APPLwATIoN FILED DB0. 1a, 1902.

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UNITED STATES Patented october 27, 190e.

PATENT OFFICE.

APPARATUS FOR RESIZING, DECAPPING, AND RECAPPING CARTRlDGE-SHELLS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 742,768, dated october 27, 1903. Application iiled December 13,1902. Serial No. 135,062. (No model.)

To LZZ whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, ERNEST L. WETZIG, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Junction City, in the county of Geary and State of Kansas, have made certain new and useful Improvementsin Apparatus for Resizing, Decappin g, and Recapping Cartridge- Shells, of which the following is a specification.

It is well known to those acquainted with the use of breech-loading shotguns that after shells have once been fired they are not of the same size, since some guns have a larger breech-chamber than others, and Vhence a shell which does not t the same when shot ,therein will expand to the size of the chamber. It is impossible to reuse such a shell in a gun having a smaller chamber. It is also often desirable toV re-form or reshape shells which have been once used in order to adapt them for reuse in the same gun in which they were discharged.

My improved apparatus comprises xed parts adapted to be secured to a wall or other fixed support and other parts adapted to slide on or in such parts, whereby shells may be resized and also decapped and r'ecapped bya simple manipulation of parts.

The details of construction, arrangement, and combination of parts are as hereinafter described, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is mainly a front view of the apparatus, the lever being broken away and certain portions being shown in section, illustrating the operation of resizing a shell. Fig. 2 is mainly a vertical section of the apparatus, a portion being shown in side View and the lever being shown by dotted lines illustrating the operation of forcing a shell out of the resizing-die and decapping same. Fig. 3 is ahorizontal section on the line?, 3 of Fig. 1. Fig. 4 is wa perspective view of the apparatus, minus a portion of the lever, the same illustrating the position of parts when a shell is decapped and forced out of the resizing-die. Fig. 5 is a perspective view of a slidable portion of the apparatus. Fig. 6 is mainly a sectional elevation and in part a side view of the apparatus, illustrating the operation of recapping a shell. Fig. 7

is a perspective view of a plug which is employed in recapping shells.

In the following description and in the drawings the fixed portions of the frame will be designated by letters, and the parts of the apparatus which are 'movable in the several portions are designated by numerals.

Referring especially to Figs. 1 and 4, A, B, and C indicate horizontal blocks or brackets, which are arranged in vertical alineinent and secured by screws to a wall or other fixed vertical support. Rods D are arranged in holes in the several brackets and secured detachably therein by means of clamp-screws ct. The above parts constitute the iixed portion or frameof the apparatus.

The rods D serve as guideways for a transverse cross-head l', (see Fig. 5,) to which vertical rods 2 are detachably secured by means of clamp-screws 3. This cross-head 1 is arranged between the two brackets B and C. A tubular and anged resizingdie 4 is arranged and supported in a central opening in the intermediate bracket B, the same being secured detachably by means of a clamp-screw 5. A plunger 6 passes through a central opening in the lower bracket C, also through an opening in the sliding cross head 1 and through the resizing-die 4, there being sufcient space between it and the die for reception of the body of the cartridge-shell as shown in Figs. 1, 2, and 6. This plunger 6 is provided at one end with a central pin 6a. (See Figs. 1, 2, and 4.) The opposite end (see Figs. 1 and 6) is provided with a recess or socket 6b. The plunger 6 is adapted to be reversed end for end, according to the function it is to perform, as will be presently explained. These slidable rods 2,connected with the crosshead 1, are provided with cross-pins 7. (See Figs. 1, 4, and 5.) In the space between the said cross-pins is arranged a cross-bar 8,which is slidably mounted on rods 2, and the same is connected by links 9 with a lever 10. The latter is pivoted at 11 (see especially Figs. 2 and 4) to the bracket A, and the end of the lever, Whose body is formed with two parts, is provided with a handle, as indicated by dotted lines in Fig. 2, for convenience and ease of manipulation of the same. It is apparent that the lever 9 swings in a vertical plane and that when the lever is thus operated the cross-bar 8 is caused to slide and down correspondingly, it being guided en the rods 2 and the latter being raised or forced down, according as the bar 8 strikes upon the upper or lower set of cross-pins 7.

When it is desired to resize shells that have been used, the plunger 6 is clamped in crosshead l by means of the' screw 12, and the screw b of the lower bracket C is adjusted out of contact with the plunger, so that the latter is left free to slide in said bracket and may be also slid down through the resizing-die 4 to the position indicated in Fig. 1. The crossbar or pusher 8 is then pushed down until it forces the shell into the die and between it and the plunger. Thus the shell will be resized as required. Then upon raisingthe lever 10 the bar S will be slid upward into contact with the upper pin 7, and thus the rods 2 will be drawn upward, carrying with them the cross-head and plunger G, since the latter is clamped to the cross-head by the screw 12. The upward motion of the lever being continued far enough, the plunger 6 will be raised, as indicated in Figs. 2 and 4, and the pin 6a coming in contact with the exploded cap or primer the latter will be forced out of the shell, and the latter will be lifted bodily e. shell.

out of the resizing-die. It wili be seen, therefore, that by pressing the lever 10 down a shell is resized, and when the lever is raised th shell is decapped and removed.

In order to cap a shell, the plug 13 (see Figs. 6 and 7) is inserted and held in vertical position in the cross-bar 8 and clamped by the screw 14. The plunger is also reversed end forend, so that the pin 6a is downward-l and the socket 6b is uppermost. The screw l2 in cross-head1 is also secured out of engagement with the plunger, and the screw b of the lower bracket C is screwed into engagement with the same, as shown in Fig. 6. Thus the plunger is held fixed in the lower bracket O, While the cross-head l is free to slide thereon. A shell cap or primer y being then placed on the head of the shell a: and the plug 13 forced down by proper manipulation of the lever 10 the shell will be duly recapped. Thus the apparatus is adaptE ed for recapping shells by simply reversing the position of the plunger 6, adjusting the screws l2 and b, and setting the plug 13 in the cross-bar 8. It is necessary to set the plunger 6 high enough to support the shell c above the die 4, since if the'shell were forced into the die it would be difficult to remove it.

The pin 6a of the plunger is made detachable, so that pins of different lengths may be employed as conditions require. It is also apparent that by means of the clamp-screws 12 of the cross-head l and Z9 of the bracket C the plunger may be set higher or lower, according to the thickness of the head of the The resizing-die may be readily removed, if it be desired to substitute another ,of slightly-dierent diameter. l

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, Patent, is-

.1. The combination,with three brackets arranged in vertical alinement and vertical guides held therein, a cross-head slidable on said guides, rods afxed to such cross-head and guided in the upper brackets` and also provided with stops, of a pivoted lever and a cross-bar connected therewith and sliding on the slidable rods between the stops thereof, resizing-die held in the intermediate bracket, and a plunger secured in the slidable crosshead and adapted to work through the resizing-die, said plunger being provided With a pin for decapping shells, substantially as shown and described.

2. The combination, with three alined brackets adapted to be secured to a fixed support, shell-resizing die held in the middie bracket and guide-rods held in said brackets, of a crossshead adapted to slide on the guides and having rods attached to it which slide in the two upper brackets, and are provided with stop-pins, a cross-bar adapted to slide on such slidable rods between the stoppins to force a shell into the die, and a lever pivoted to the upper bracket and connected with the slidable cross-bar, all operating as shown and described.

3. The combination, with three alined brackets adapted to be secured to a Xed support, a shell-supporting device heldin the middle bracket, guides held in said brackets, a cross-head slidable on the guides and having rods' connected therewith and sliding in v the upper brackets, and provided with stops, a plunger carried by the crosshead and working through the shell-support, the same being provided at its upper end with a projecting pin, a lever pivoted to the upper bracket, a cross-bar which is slidable von the slidable rods between the stops thereon and links connecting such cross-bar with the lever, whereby, when the latter is vibrated in a vertical plane, the cross bar is alternately forced down and up, as required to force the shell into the support and to decap the same, substantially as shown and described.

4. The combination, with three brackets adapted to be attached to a suitable support, and a resizing-die held in one of said brackets, of a slidable cross-head and rods affixed thereto and sliding in the two upper brackets, a cross-bar which is slidable on the slidable rods, a plug secured in such cross-,bar for use in recapping shells, a lever and links for moving the cross-bar on the slidable rods, and a plunger held in the lower bracket and projecting into the resizing-die, substantially as shown and described.

5. The combination, with three brackets and desire to secure by Letters IOO IIO

adapted to be secured to a suitable support, and guide-rods held therein, of a cross-head adapted to slide on the guides between the loWerrnost and intermediate brackets, rods fixed to the cross-head and sliding through the intermediate and upper brackets and pro# vided with stops, a cross-bar which slides on the slidable rods and is provided centrally with an opening and clamp-screw for receiving and securing a plug adapted for use in recapping shells, a pivoted lever connected With such cross-bar for shifting it on said slidable rods between the stops thereof, and a plunger which is adapted to be reversed end for end, it being provided at one end I5 

